Data recovery

Behrooz_C

Elite Member
Dec 10, 2005
16,650
1,566
A small island west of Africa
#1
Guys, I need technical help.

My daughter accidentally poured soap water over my portable Seagate hard drive. I have since been unable to access the drive. I have so much of value on that drive, including photos of the children since they were born. Does anyone know how I can recover the files? I downloaded ubuntu and tried to recover them but the drive doesn't appear. Any advice will be much appreciated.

At the time it was connected to the computer so it may have shorted. I hope not. I had been thinking of transferring everything onto cloud storage but kept putting it off :(

Thanks
 

A8K

Elite Member
Oct 22, 2016
3,036
520
fuck.ir
#2
break the case, remove the drive and with the kit (has a power chord and data cord-USB connector) used for connecting external hd to a usb port you can easily see the files I would imagine..

such kit is readily avail at Frys etc.. https://www.google.com/search?q=ext...keDaAhVoplkKHX7xDrMQ_AUICigB&biw=1094&bih=522

if drive not readable then at worse level finding similar drive and changing the IC board/attachements may have to be done ..

I think that's it not a software issue at all meaning no need to recover data as you imagine..unless the drink penetrated the drive itself. highly doubtful.
 
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Likes: IEI
Nov 29, 2002
8,095
862
#3
Guys, I need technical help.

My daughter accidentally poured soap water over my portable Seagate hard drive. I have since been unable to access the drive. I have so much of value on that drive, including photos of the children since they were born. Does anyone know how I can recover the files? I downloaded ubuntu and tried to recover them but the drive doesn't appear. Any advice will be much appreciated.

At the time it was connected to the computer so it may have shorted. I hope not. I had been thinking of transferring everything onto cloud storage but kept putting it off :(

Thanks
Sorry to hear that.

But you've got a child and you voted Brexit?
 

IEI

Administrator
Staff member
Nov 10, 2002
14,500
3,336
#4
Exactly as A8K said ... also for god sake put your images on Dropbox as well ... we are in 2018, and shouldn't encounter such problems
 
Likes: A8K

Behrooz_C

Elite Member
Dec 10, 2005
16,650
1,566
A small island west of Africa
#5
Thanks guys. I doubt the water has got inside. It has probably just destroyed the connection. The hard disk itself must be ok so I just need to buy a deck to read it.

Sorry to hear that.

But you've got a child and you voted Brexit?
Absolutely. You are not saying children in Australia and Canada are at a disadvantage for not being in the EU, are you?
 

Behrooz_C

Elite Member
Dec 10, 2005
16,650
1,566
A small island west of Africa
#6
Thanks guys. I doubt the water has got inside. It has probably just destroyed the connection. The hard disk itself must be ok so I just need to buy a deck to read it.

I have this morning purchased 5T of OneDrive. All I need is to access the files on the seagate to copy them over.



Absolutely. You are not saying children in Australia and Canada are at a disadvantage for not being in the EU, are you?
 
Jul 5, 2009
3,012
360
South Dakota
#7
Guys, I need technical help.
My daughter accidentally poured soap water over my portable Seagate hard drive. I have since been unable to access the drive. I have so much of value on that drive, including photos of the children since they were born. Does anyone know how I can recover the files?
Well, I would suggest Runtime SW GetDataBack for FAT, NTFS or Classic/Simple, the deal is if your portable hard drive still is electrically alive and initiating!?
I have managed to recover a corrupted/formatted 128 MB flash drive and even a micro SD.
Another great Runtime tool/SW for disk imaging/mirroring and cloning is Macrium Reflect

As I understand it right you have the USB connector/cable to connect the external hard drive to a PC, if not use a SATA/IDE HDD docking station, US E-bay.
Worst case scenario, you need to swap the supervision board/PBA circuit with exactly a similar type of HDD, then use the GetBackData to recover the files!
 
Last edited:

Behrooz_C

Elite Member
Dec 10, 2005
16,650
1,566
A small island west of Africa
#8
Well, I would suggest Runtime SW GetDataBack for FAT, NTFS or Classic/Simple, the deal is if your portable hard drive still is electrically alive and initiating!?
I have managed to recover a corrupted/formatted 128 MB flash drive and even a micro SD.
Another great Runtime tool/SW for disk imaging/mirroring and cloning is Macrium Reflect

As I understand it right you have the USB connector/cable to connect the external hard drive to a PC, if not use a SATA/IDE HDD docking station, US E-bay.
Worst case scenario, you need to swap the supervision board/PBA circuit with exactly a similar type of HDD, then use the GetBackData to recover the files!
Thanks. I doubt the hard drive itself is damaged. It's just the electronics I think. The problem is how to get into the casing. I would hate to force break it and make it even more useless.

Here it is:



http://i67.tinypic.com/sddw0x.jpg
 
Jul 5, 2009
3,012
360
South Dakota
#9
Thanks. I doubt the hard drive itself is damaged. It's just the electronics I think. The problem is how to get into the casing. I would hate to force break it and make it even more useless.
Here it is:


http://i67.tinypic.com/sddw0x.jpg
You can not damage that driver anymore, you've done enough damage by now!
Dismantle the cover, do not hurry and be careful, by the way you are not going to use that cover/case anymore.
Disconnect the power module 3.3, 5 and 12VDC (I guess the formfactor for your drive is 2.5" -USB3.0 to SATA- connectors) from the power connectors.




Once you have disconnected the power module, connect the damaged driver to a SATA connector on a motherboard (on a PC).
Power up the damaged driver using the power supply module from the same PC (you do not need a HDD-docker either), if you are lucky you will be able to see your external (damaged unit) under the "Devices and drivers".
I dont think you need to use any Runtime software either.
 
Likes: Behrooz_C
May 21, 2003
19,849
147
Not The Eshaalic Goozpublic !
#13
take it to a technician don't do it at home.
maybe he/she can recover your precious stuff.

if you can't get it to a tech and it is a windows machine, then this solution doesn't look too bad:
https://www.easeus.com/data-recovery/other-recovery-software/protable-data-recovery.htm

and please back up your data from now on.
cloud would be a good solution since the data is literally safe (from erasing )
or just back up your data on another storage device.
 
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Behrooz_C

Elite Member
Dec 10, 2005
16,650
1,566
A small island west of Africa
#14
Well, I opened the casing and inside was all toast! The circuit board was completely rusty and I guess that's the reason the disc wasn't even turning. So I detached the board and cleaned it as far as I could with contact cleaners. But I could still see signs of rust under some of the components. I put it together, placed it in a deck, but the disc was still not turning.
So I guessed the board is beyond repair and needs replaced. As a last ditch I found the board on ebay and have bought it. I am hoping that replacing this will send the disc spinning because the power supply to the disc looks good.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seagate-.../272241144140?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c4

If not I will have to take it to a professional and see if they can do anything.
 

Behrooz_C

Elite Member
Dec 10, 2005
16,650
1,566
A small island west of Africa
#15
Pas inja ghayem shodi Behrouz jan
Data recovery che sighei e.
Dige to thread e champions league nemiay
Jaat Khaali e lol
chiye bazam zire ma tamoon kardin ke. :D

take it to a technician don't do it at home.
maybe he/she can recover your precious stuff.

if you can't get it to a tech and it is a windows machine, then this solution doesn't look too bad:
https://www.easeus.com/data-recovery/other-recovery-software/protable-data-recovery.htm

and please back up your data from now on.
cloud would be a good solution since the data is literally safe (from erasing )
or just back up your data on another storage device.
Thanks but the problem is definitely hardware as the disc isn't even spinning. The good news is the disc itself is sealed. Bad news is that the board that controls it is toast.